


Brand new world

by katbux



Series: Lucius/Severus [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: De-Aged Severus Snape, Good Lucius Malfoy, M/M, Panic Attacks, Veela Lucius Malfoy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-12
Updated: 2018-07-23
Packaged: 2019-05-21 08:35:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,151
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14912051
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/katbux/pseuds/katbux





	1. Chapter 1

He wakes up in a dark room with a strangely familiar man leaning over him. He feels like he was sleeping for a long long time, mind fuzzy and disoriented. The strange man gently props him and helps him sit up: “Slowly Sev, so you won’t get dizzy.” Severus nods and leans into him. Once he feels little bit more steady, he looks around. He recognizes this place from his nightmares, the Shrieking Shack, the place where he almost died.

He panics a little bit, expecting Lupin to jump at him but the werewolf is not there. Instead there are 2 boys, both around his age. Is it.. Potter? He looks differently, the usual sneer off of his face. The other one is..”Lucius!” he recognizes his friend, even if his hair look little bit different. “Lucius, what happened?” Luc looks shocked and starts to shake his head, his mouth opening and closing, but no sound coming out. He looks helplessly on the man still supporting Sev’s back, eyes imploring.

“He is not Lucius and that is not Potter you see.” the man gently combs his hair with his fingers, they are full of tangles and wet with something. That is when Severus notices he is lying in a puddle of blood. He tries to jump up, horrified, but his legs won’t hold him and he almost collapses back to the ground. Only quick reflexes of the unknown man save him from falling. He scoops him up into his arms and looks around.

“There is a bed in the next room” the not-Potter says. The man nods and takes Sev there. Once he is lying on the bed, his back supported by all the pillows they could find, the man sits next to him. “Will you allow me to clean you up a little? I promise we will explain all we can right after.” Severus thinks for a second, but gives him his consent at the end, for some unknown reason he trusts the man even if he’d never seen him before and he really wants to get the blood off as soon as possible.

“Who are you? Do I know you?” he asks, studying the man carefully. His eyes flicker to the boys awkwardly standing in the doorway as far from each other as possible. The man finishes the cleaning spells first and transfigures an old book into a hairbrush and starts combing the younger man’s hair. It takes a while, Sev’s hair are long and thick, cascading down his back almost to his waist. No one speaks, but the older man ignores the growing tension and focuses on the task at hand. Only when his hair are tangle free he speaks:

“The blond boy you see in the doorway is not Lucius Malfoy, it is Draco, Lucius’ son. I am the Lucius you know.” Startled black eyes meet sad grey ones. Severus studies the man who claims to be his friend and the boy standing in the doorway. Now that his mind is little bit clearer he can see the differences between them. The younger’s eyes are of different color, more icy blue than grey, his nose is… softer somehow and he seems little bit shorter than his Lucius, who is as tall as he is. How is that possible? What happened?

He could hear blood passing through his ears - thump, thump, thump - the tempo quickly increasing until he is feeling like his heart will jump out of his chest. Lucius’ face starts to swim in from of his eyes and is oddly shaking. Then he realizes it’s in not Luc who is shaking, trembling actually, it is he himself. Violent shudders are running through his whole body. He can’t speak, can’t breathe or move, he can only feel, feel the overwhelming dread clouding his mind, telling him that something is wrong and he is in danger.

He tries to curl into himself, to lock the feelings inside, but there is something preventing it, something, somebody is holding him immobilized, gently rocking him back and forth and whispering calming words into his ear. 

Lucius recognizes the panic attack immediately, as soon as Severus started to breathe more heavily he knew what will come. He remembers them from their school days, how many times did he had to bring him down from one? Every time those bloody Marauders did something especially vicious or when the end of a school year came by and Sev was forced to return to his Father’s house. So he knows what to do, how to stop him from hurting himself, what words to use to calm him down…

He pulls the boy into his chest, forcing him to lay his head on Luc’s chest like so many times before. “Shhh, focus on my breathing, listen to it and follow the rhythm. In and out, in and out. Slowly, as slow as you can. In and out, in and out.” It takes a while, but gradually the feeling of dread diminishes and Sev is able to match his breathing to Lucius. This reaction, the way how he calmed him down convinced him that Lucius is truly who he says he is.  No other than he and Lily knew how to bring him down when he panicked.

Severus is scared and overwhelmed, his mind going in circles. The emotional strain is eventually too much and he starts sobbing. He is sobbing and clutching Lucius’ robes as firmly as he can, Lucius is his lifeline, his only connection in the world he knew, world that made sense.


	2. Chapter 2

Lucius lets him cry until he eventually cries himself to sleep. When only a gentle snoring is heard, he turns to the boys. “Mr. Potter.” He waits till the scared, green eyes turn to him “I’ll take Severus with me to Malfoy… no not there.” He helplessly looks at Draco.

“France father, let’s take him to our french estate. No one’s been there for a long time, no one will bother us there.” Yes, that is a good idea. He doesn’t want to bring Severus to the Manor, the place now dark and full of bad memories, memories of days when he was a prisoner in his own house, helpless and scared…

“Yes, the french mansion.” 

“But.. but you can’t leave! You, he... there needs to be justice served!”

“Justice! You stupid boy! What justice expects us from those fools. Didn’t he suffer enough?! Didn’t we suffer enough?! I killed that maniac, isn’t that good enough price for our freedom?”

He stands up and puts light sleeping spell on Severus, so he won’t wake up during the transfer. He wants to leave this place as soon as possible and never visit it again. He doesn’t care about Hogwarts or politics or social standing. All he cares about are these two - Severus and Draco. He is done fighting, done chasing the vision of his father.

“You can’t leave, you promised! You promised to that thing that you will teach whoever will want to learn and if you won’t Snape will die again!”

“For Merlin’s sake boy, you are a wizard! Think like one! It doesn't matter where I am, you can get there in matter of seconds!” Honestly, how could anyone think that this clueless boy would be our Savior? He still thinks like a muggle.

“But...but think how it will look like! Like you’re running, like you are guilty.”

“But I am guilty boy, I am….” But Draco isn’t, Draco is a victim of a madman and his father’s failure to protect him. He cannot leave him behind, his little angel. He looks back towards his son and sees something he did not see there for a long, long time. His Draco is proud of him, he does not want to lose that.

“Okay, I’ll stay and face the jury” he admits, shoulders slumping in defeat.

“No father! You need to leave or they will lock you into Azkaban, please father don’t do this!” Draco grabs his arm and shakes him a little bit.

“Oh son, don’t you see?” he puts the palm of his hand against his cheek “I would risk Azkaban, I would risk death, but I can’t risk losing you or taking your future. I won’t jeopardize that.”

“You won’t lose me, I’m coming with you!” Lucius just sadly shakes his head. How did he deserve such a great son?

 

Their way back to the castle is quiet, solemn affair. Lucius is carrying his mate in his arms, trying to avoid thoughts of this being the first and probably the last time, he is allowed to do that.

Before they can come to the view from the front gates, the Potter boy stops. “Maybe we should not take him there.” he points his chin towards still sleeping Severus. “He looks so different like this and that thing said he will have no memory of his life after as an adult. It could be little too much to him.”

“So what should I do with him? Should I lay him down under the bushes and leave?” Lucius lashes out, he can’t stop feeling like he is being pushed into a corner.

“I have a house, it used to be one of the Order’s safe houses, but it is empty now. We can take him there, you can all stay there.”

“Why are you doing this Potter? You do not owe us anything”

“I do to him, I owe him my own life ten times over.” he admits sadly, looking at Severus. He didn’t have a lot of time to process what he learned in the headmaster’s office today, but one thing is clear. There would be no Harry Potter without Snape. “Come, I can side-apparate you with me.”

 

What other option do they have? No option and so they agree and apparate to this unknown house. Only, it is not unknown to Lucius, he recognizes the place the moment they appear at the Grimmauld place.

“Oh Draco, do you remember this house?” Draco frowns and tries to remember, he knows he’s been here before, but can’t quite put his finger on it. He looks questioningly at his father.

“This is the Black’s old town house, your great aunt Walburga used to live here, this house belonged to Sirius Black.”

“Yes and he left it to me” Harry admits, pulling his shoulders up. He still dislikes talking about Sirius. The man was not the best, but even if he was as he was, he was Harry’s last chance at having real family and getting rid of the Dursleys. He starts to ascend towards the entrance, trying to avoid more questioning and unpleasant memories. The door open with a squak and he freezes a little, hoping that the Black matron is still sleeping in her portrait. When nothing is heard, he turns towards the Malfoys and motions them in.

He leads them upstairs, to the room where Ron and Hermione used to sleep, hoping that at least that room is less dusty then the ones that weren’t used since the Order left.

Draco looks disbelievingly around, his memories of the house returning. “Wow, I’ve never seen such a dirty house before!”

“Well Malfoy, not everyone has an army of house elves that can clean everyday.” grumbles Harry. He knows the house is not much and needs a proper scrub down, but he does not want Malfoy to slander it.

“Do you mind if I call ours?” Harry blinks in surprise. He did not expect Malfoy to offer any help, it seems he is not the only one changed by the war.

“Sure, if you don’t mind” he agrees. He always hoped to see the house in its full glory, he just didn’t know how to do it.

Draco nods and calls “Nimpy!” a small female house elf appears with a crack. She looks around, horror apparent in her little face.

“Master Draco! What can Nimpy does for you?”

“Me and Father will be staying here for a while, could you clean this place a little? Feel free to call other Malfoy elves to help you.”

“Of course little master! Nimpy will fix this!”

“Thank you, please start with the room behind me, Father and Severus will be staying in there, but please be quiet, Sev is asleep.” the little elf nods seriously and hurries into the room. Lucius is already there, still holding his sleeping mate. He did not want to put him onto the dirty bed, he relaxes when he sees her. “Oh Nimpy, thank god. Please clean the bed first so I can lay him down.”

“Certainly Master” the little elf snaps her finger and the dusty bed linens disappear, she snaps again and the bed is covered by fresh, white linens, looking very comfortable. Lucius puts his love down.

“Thank you Nimpy, would you mind calling the others and clean up the house here? We will be staying here for a while.”

“Yes Master, young master already ordered the same, we will begin immediately.” she disappears with a soft pop, as not to wake up the sleeping man.

Lucius doesn’t know what to do next, his whole world turned on its axis and he feels lost, untethered.

“Father?” Draco stands in the doorway. “You should lie down too. You did not sleep much in the last few months and what you did today took a lot of energy.” he comes closer, laying a calming hand on Lucius’ shoulder.

“I’m not sure if I’ll be able to fall asleep, I want to stay with him. What if… what if he dies in the night? Or wakes up, not knowing where he is and tries to leave?” he looks at his son, now almost as tall as he is with a gut wrenching worry and sadness. Draco smiles at his father gently, he always thought him an ice cold man, a distant parental figure he would do anything to please. The last months showed him father’s other face, face of a vulnerable man, locked and humiliated in his own house, man that was forced into his situation by circumstances and desperate need to protect those he loves. He tucks a stray strand of dirty silver blond hair behind his ear: “What if you take a quick shower now and I will sit with him, then you can lie in with him. I’m sure he would not mind, hmm?”

Lucius just continues to stand there, looking lost. He is so afraid to take his eyes off of his mate, what if he loses him again? Or worse, what if this was some crazy dream and he suddenly wakes up with Severus still dead and his world in ruin?

“I...I…” he tries to explain, but his throat is constricted, not releasing a sound. Draco sees his struggle and takes him under the arm, gently leading him into the bathing chamber. He helps his father to take off his clothes, leaving just the underwear on and then finds a comb and starts to disentangle those long, now matted and tangled strands. Lucius tries to protest several times, but his son just shushes him and continues to comb his hair.

The knots in Lucius shoulders start to untangle at the gentle touches, he did not even realize how tense he was for months.

Draco finishes his task and helps him stand up “Go father, take a shower, I will stay with him. Don’t worry, I’ll call you immediately if he wakes up.”

Lucius stops him before he can leave “Draco wait, I… I just wanted to say I’m sorry, I’m sorry I could not protect you from him, it is all my fault. If I would’ve been stronger!”

“No father, no.” Draco hugs him close, he did not hug his father for years, since he was just a little boy. “It was not your fault, you were his victim, we both were. You did not have a choice.”

“But I did Dragon, I did” confesses Lucius, not even realizing he used his son childish nickname. “I had a choice, I could have joined Dumbledore, I could pack us up and leave…” he looks desperately into his son’s eyes, willing him to understand.

“No you didn’t. If you would, he would find us and murdered us. Go take a shower and sleep a little, you will feel much better in the morning, you’ll see.”

Lucius did not have the strength to argue more, so he turned towards the shower and started to undress.

Draco returned to the chamber with sleeping Severus, sitting down on the bed.

“I’m so glad you’re okay godfather.” he confesses quietly. “I just hope you’ll be okay soon. Father needs you, I need you. I know I was not fair to you lately, I was a brat, scared out of my mind and lashing out. Come back to us, come back and I will do anything to fix it. To make sure you and father are safe and happy.” his only answer is a gentle breathing.

Lucius emerges from the bathroom, clad in his pyjamas that the mindful house elf brought him in the meantime. He finds his son sitting on the bed, holding his mate’s hand. He stands behind his boy and cradles his head close, stroking the silver strands. “Thank you Dragon. I feel much better now. I will sleep with him, I need to have him close in case…” he doesn’t even want to think what could happen.

“Can I sleep with you too? I mean, I know…”

“Of course love, do you want to take your shower first? Or we go straight to bed?”

“I am so tired Papa” the boy admits, he tried to be brave today, to be strong for his father, but he is still a young boy, a boy who almost lost everything today. He misses his mother, they lost her, she was hit by one of the stray curses and now is dead.

“I know my love. Come, let's lie down.” He transfigures his son’s clothes into a pyjamas, throwing in some cleaning spells. Lucius slides into the bed, Draco following him. He now lies in the middle, his mate and son bracketing him from the sides.

_ This is how I would like to sleep every night _ , is his last thought before the day takes its toll and he falls into a deep slumber.


	3. Chapter 3

Severus wakes up in a darkened, unfamiliar room.  _ How did I get here? _

He turns around and spots a man lying on his side. Memories of previous day start to stream into his mind, waking up in the Shrieking shack, meeting this man, he is Lucius!

The other man is asleep, giving him time to study him in the cold morning light. He is around forty, but still as beautiful as when they went to Hogwarts together, his silver hair not marred by whites, the only thing betraying his age are the deep lines around his eyes. He looks strangely sad and worried even in his sleep.

_ What happened?  How come Lucius is so much older than when we’ve met the last time? We were at the Hogwarts’ Express coming home for the last time. How come I can’t remember anything after that? _

Suddenly Sev notices another body in the bed, it is the boy Lucius introduced as his son, he is curled under Lucius’ other arm, also sleeping. Who is his mother? Is it Narcissa Black? He remembers that Abraxas wanted to marry her to his son, wanted to join their two houses, but he also remembers how Lucius fought against his father’s wishes. He did not want to marry her, he said he is waiting for his true love, but he never said who it is.

 

He can’t lie in the bed anymore, he is anxious, like his skin does not fit him anymore. He carefully disentangles Luc’s fingers clutching his pyjamas and slips out. He traverses the house, it takes him a while, but in the end he recognizes it. It is Reggie’s house, house of that imbecile Sirius Black.

He is not sure how late or early it is and he does not want to wake up anyone, god forbid he would actually meet that idiot, so he slowly wanders down towards the kitchens, he is sure none of the Blacks would actually enter the kitchen.

He finds several house elves there, all carefully scrubbing the equipment.

“What can we do for you Master Severus?” asks the closest one. Sev notices that he wears a pillow case, but instead having a Black’s seal, it has Malfoy’s on it.  _ How is it possible? Did Lucius indeed marry Narcissa and this house belongs to him? But where is Reggie? Or that mut? _ His head is full of questions, but no answers, it is really frustrating.

“Master Severus, sir?” the elf asks timidly, reminding the man that he actually never answered his question.

“I would like a tea and a room where I can drink it without disturbing anyone.”

“Certainly Sir, allow me to take you to the family salon, we will bring you tea and refreshments there.” The little creature leads him to the first floor, opening a door of a spacious room full of tables and comfortably looking chairs. The elf snaps his fingers and the table nearest to the window suddenly has a tea set on it. Severus nods in thanks and moves to take his tea, noticing the clock on the mantle, signaling it is 7AM. He sits there for a while, looking out of the window, all he sees is a nondescript place, surrounded by houses in what is apparently a muggle London. His memories of the house swimming up from the recesses of his brain, true, he did not visit Reggie that many times, but he remembers the view to be different. The windows used to be charmed to show London, but with view of Thames and the Parliament building, not this dirty little corner.  _ How many things have changed… _

The door behind him open with a little squeak, he expects a house elf, but it is Potter, no not Potter, Lucius said it is not him, but the resemblance is uncanny. “Who are you?” he asks, making the boy jump.

Harry just returned from Hogwarts and is bone tired. All that loss, all those dead people swimming in front of his eyes. What was the reason for that? Yes he is glad that Voldemort is gone, but can they really count that as a win? The prophecy was fake, he was not the one who needed to kill Tom. His parents death, his life with Dursleys, all those people who sacrificed themselves just so he can fight him… all for naught.

“Who are you?” the quiet question rips him out of his dark thoughts, he looks up and notices Snape sitting near the window with tea. He zeroes onto that tea,  _ maybe it will help, maybe it chase away the chill inside me _ . He sits down, pouring himself a cup. Only after the warm liquid warms his cold insides he realizes that he did not answer.

“My name is Harry James Potter. Yes, I am his son.” he answers the question he can read in the other boy’s eyes. He can see his posture change, the relaxed state is gone, Snape pulls his shoulders together and somehow buries himself deeper into the chair. Is it as if he expects an attack from Harry and is trying to protect himself.

“Don’t…” Harry stretches out his arm, freezing when he sees him flinch. “I am not like him, I know he was a bully to you and you hated each other, but you have nothing to worry about. I’m not gonna hurt you, I would never.”

Severus relaxes a little, but he would not be a Slytherin if he just believed him. “Why should I believe you? Sure if you were raised by him and that horrible mutt”

“They were not the ones that raised me!” Harry interrupts him sharply. “My parents died when I was just a baby and I was raised by my mother’s relatives. I know you knew Petunia, so you can imagine…”

“Petunia? Petunia Evans? So Lily did marry that jerk in the end! Wait, you said your parents are dead? Is… is Lily dead?” he is almost afraid of the answer.

“Yes, they were both killed when I was just one year old, murdered by Voldemort.” The pain visible in Snape’s eyes is crushing, he starts breathing rapidly and Harry is afraid that he will go into another panic attack, but as suddenly as it appeared, it was gone. It was like a door closing behind the black eyes, all the emotions suddenly gone.

“I knew Lily” he admits quietly “she is… used to be my friend.”

“I know, I know what happened between you two, I know you called her a mudblood and you never made up afterwards.”

Severus looks up at him, surprised.  _ Who is this boy? He looks like my tormentor, but is nothing like him. How come he knows about my past? And actually how come he is alive, an adult and Lucius so much older? _

“Can you tell me what happened? It seems like I’ve slept for twenty years, the last thing I remember is being on the Express traveling home at the end of seventh year and then nothing… nothing until I woke in that horrible place yesterday.”

Harry doesn’t know how to explain. How do you say someone that they died? Died and were magically resurrected? But he is a Gryffindor and needs to be brave. Snape deserves to know the truth. And so he starts, he starts with how he first came to Hogwarts and found out about magic and a madman who killed his parents and was going after him. How he met a certain Potions professor who hated him on sight. He explains the every year’s trials and what part did Snape play in them, he does not try to coddle him, he knows Snape would’ve hated it. He gets to Snape’s death and how Lucius pleaded for his resurrection, the only thing he leaves out is the fact that they are mates, it is not his secret to share.

Quiet reigns when he is done, both men thinking about what was just said. It is Severus who breaks it: “Thank you, thank you for being honest with me. I know it must have been hard for you.”

 

Severus has lots to process, the boy knew just one part of the story, but he does not feel ready to know more yet. Maybe one day he’ll be strong enough to tear down the wall blocking his memories, but he feels afraid. The man the boy described was not one he wished to be. The boy tried to hide it, but it was clear that there was no love lost between them, that he was not a good person. What happened to him? Why did he join these death eaters? He never hated the muggleborns, so how come he started to support the blood supremacist?

He knows only one thing. He was given a second chance. A chance to start anew, to change that person. The only thing he needs to figure out is who he wants to be now.

 

Lucius wakes up and immediately notices that Sev is gone, his first instinct is to panic and run to find him, but he pushes it down. He feels his magic flowing beneath his skin, awake and stronger than ever before. He is afraid that if he panics, it might lash out. It happened to him few times in the past, always caused by strong emotional strain. He refuses to let it happen again, he must keep control.

He stays in bed for few more moments, willing his breath to calm down. He looks at Draco, still peacefully sleeping under his arm.  _ My poor boy, he was so brave yesterday. I could see he was holding on just by the skin of his teeth, but he did not let go. He lost so much. Lost his friends, dignity, mother…. Cissa, oh god she is dead. I never loved her more than a friend for a veela can not truly love anyone but his mate, but I did love her in my own way. She was the best mother and wife a man could ever wish for and stood by my side till the bitter end. She did not deserve a fate like this. _

Lucius can feel tears streaming down his face, he allows this moment of weakness in the solitude of the morning for he knows he must be strong after. He must be strong for his son, for his mate… his beautiful Severus.  _ Was it selfish of me to bring him back? Shouldn’t I leave him to the peace of death? What life can I offer him like this? A disgraced man, a murderer, probably soon to be locked in Azkaban. I just hope he won’t hate me for it. _

Once he feels like he is composed enough, he stands up and readies for the day. He asks the elf for his favorite robes, dark blue and lined with silver, needing the extra boost of confidence. He is surprised how much the elves accomplished during the night, there is not a speck of dust in the hallways, all the wood and brass shining. He looks for Sev, opening doors after doors, just hoping nothing will jump out of him. He finds him in the salon at the first floor, but he is not alone, the Potter boy is keeping him company.

“Good morning.” he greets and joins them at the table. The tray is refilled by the house elves and a new plate with some ham sandwiches appears. They eat in silence, all three surreptitiously looking at each other, but no one is willing to break it.

 

They spend following days in this vacuum, sitting around, talking only when they have to. All of them have a feeling like something should happen, like there should be some big thing coming, but none of them can say what it is.

Lucius and Draco still sleep in the same bed as Severus but outside of that, they do not talk to each other more than ‘pass me the salt during shared meals. Severus does not know what to say to him, his friend is a stranger to him now, so he avoids him as much as he can. And Lucius? He is waiting… doesn’t know what for, maybe to gather courage to approach the man he loves. He can feel that Sev is avoiding him, he knows him too well and can see through his facade of politeness.


End file.
